Cortical and thalamic resting-state functional connectivity is altered in childhood absence epilepsy

Summary Purpose Functional imaging studies have identified a common network of brain regions that activate and deactivate during the generalised spike wave (GSW) discharges of childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). Functional connectivity within this network is also altered during the resting state. In t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epilepsy research 2012-05, Vol.99 (3), p.327-334
Main Authors: Masterton, Richard A, Carney, Patrick W, Jackson, Graeme D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absence
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Electroencephalography - methods
Epilepsy, Absence - diagnosis
Epilepsy, Absence - physiopathology
Female
fMRI
Functional connectivity
Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Malformations of the nervous system
Medical sciences
Nerve Net - physiology
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
Rest - physiology
Thalamus - physiology
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Summary:Summary Purpose Functional imaging studies have identified a common network of brain regions that activate and deactivate during the generalised spike wave (GSW) discharges of childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). Functional connectivity within this network is also altered during the resting state. In this study our aim was to assess functional connectivity throughout the whole brain of patients with CAE. Methods We studied a group of eleven patients with untreated CAE and eleven matched controls using resting-state fMRI. We measured functional connectivity between every pair of voxels and generated images of “whole-brain” functional connectivity by counting the number of functional connections of each voxel. Key findings There were marked differences between CAE patients and controls in whole brain functional connectivity. The patients had decreased connectivity in the thalamus and basal ganglia and increased connectivity in the medial occipital cortex. Significance These findings suggest enduring changes in function of the thalamus and the cortex in CAE patients even when there is no GSW activity. These human functional connectivity data support the findings in animal models of involvement of cortex as well as thalamus in absence epilepsy.
ISSN:0920-1211
1872-6844
DOI:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2011.12.014